Performance Improvement Advisor

Stanford Medicine Children's Health•Palo Alto, CA

1d•$63 - $81•Onsite

About The Position

The Performance Improvement (PI) Advisor is a principal-level internal improvement consultant who directs and drives transformational, enterprise-level initiatives across Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. The role partners with executives, senior clinicians, and other stakeholders to analyze opportunities, recommend solutions, develop implementation plans and budgets, identify metrics and reporting requirements, and manage strategic initiatives from inception through implementation in collaboration with executive sponsors and initiative owners. The PI Advisor provides strategic direction, expert consultation, and mentorship for improvement efforts and team members. The role oversees improvement portfolios in assigned areas, including value stream management, strategic planning, program development, goal setting, project management and execution, improvement training, and ad hoc support. It advances the organization’s improvement capabilities by developing its structures, processes, and people, and ensures efforts align with enterprise objectives. The position champions the Packard Quality Management System (PQMS), supports its development and deployment, and contributes to executive committees, task forces, and the broader healthcare improvement community. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and seven years of progressively responsible, directly related experience. A master’s degree and formal improvement-science certification are preferred. The role is an on-site, 40-hour-per-week day-shift position. Compensation is listed at $62.65 to $81.44 per hour.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, healthcare administration, public health, nursing, public administration, finance, mechanical, electrical, industrial, or civil engineering, or a related field from an accredited college or university.
Seven years of progressively responsible and directly related work experience.
Expertise implementing improvement-science methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, TPS, and PDSA, including systems, flow, waste, variation, change management, PDSA cycles, and A3 thinking.
Expertise in internal consulting, stakeholder and client management, negotiation, relationship building, change management, coaching, persuasion, facilitation, presentation, and project execution.
Ability to accomplish work through influence and collaboration and build trusting relationships using humble inquiry and related skills.
Advanced project management and planning skills, including short- and long-range program planning, progress tracking, and managing complex, broad-impact projects within time and budget constraints.
Ability to select and implement project-management methods, tools, and metrics; perform conceptual planning; analyze diverse project scopes; and understand cost impacts on organizational objectives.
Ability to lead or direct project-team training, value stream analysis, strategy deployment, and improvement events, and build systems for PQMS capability development.
Ability to develop clients; assess, structure, and scope complex problems; organize and prioritize work; meet deadlines; and deliver projects to agreed scopes.
Flexibility and adaptability in response to changing direction and priorities.
Knowledge of the healthcare delivery system and its broader societal context, including inpatient, outpatient, and/or clinic operations.
Ability to perform business analytics, including data manipulation, reporting, and analysis, and communicate findings to audiences from frontline staff to executives.
Knowledge of inpatient and clinic operations and their relationship to labor productivity.
Ability to teach others, promote continuous learning, develop professionally, and identify and address personal knowledge gaps.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team to achieve goals and objectives.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in healthcare, business, engineering, or a related field.
Formal certification in improvement-science methodology, such as Lean Silver, Lean Gold, or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Responsibilities

Direct and drive transformational, enterprise-level improvement initiatives across Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.
Partner with executives, senior clinicians, and other stakeholders to analyze opportunities, recommend solutions, create implementation plans and budgets, identify metrics and reporting requirements, and manage initiatives to targeted results.
Lead strategic and transformational improvement programs, system-level initiatives, and complex projects using systems thinking, improvement science, and project management practices.
Manage strategic initiatives from inception through implementation with executive sponsors and initiative owners.
Provide strategic direction, expert consultation, and mentorship for organizational improvement efforts and improvement team members.
Collaborate with leadership to oversee assigned improvement portfolios, including value stream management, strategic planning, program development, goal setting, project execution, training, and ad hoc support.
Advance the improvement capability of organizational structures, processes, and people.
Align improvement efforts with enterprise objectives and influence annual goal deployment, including goal development, implementation, and check/adjust processes.
Guide the organization toward workable strategies and solutions through strategic thinking and consulting.
Coach teams in improvement science methods and tools; promote data-informed decisions, best practices, and systems thinking.
Champion and advance the Packard Quality Management System (PQMS) through content creation, training, coaching, and collaboration with leadership.
Build and maintain collaborative relationships with stakeholders at all levels; act as a trusted partner, influencer, change agent, and coach.
Conduct process improvement analysis and deliver clear, concise advice and responses in a pressured environment.
Teach and apply statistical analysis and reporting practices for process improvement and program evaluation, including statistical process control and analysis software such as QI Macros.
Support and contribute to executive-level committees and task forces.
Lead Specialists, Associates, and Coordinators, and develop junior team members through coaching and mentoring.
Monitor healthcare-market developments and best practices through affiliate institutions, organizations, associations, and other healthcare providers; research practices that can promote change and innovation.
Assist with recruiting, including initial screening calls, and recommend candidates’ fit to leadership.
Train and develop Specialists and Associates, and often lead and approve their work product.
Perform other related duties as needed or assigned.
Comply with Joint Commission requirements, hospital policies and procedures, Service Standards, and the Code of Conduct.